Sedimentary Rocks

Sedimentary rock is a type of rock that is formed by sedimentation

of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Particles that form a
sedimentary rock by accumulating are called sediments.
Sedimentation is a process in which these particles combine to form layers of
sediments which will push down on older layers and form the sedimentary rocks
due to the weight of the overlying layers. Sedimentary rocks formed depend on
the type of particles present in the sediments.

How Sedimentary rocks form: Newly deposited particles

are initially non able to fit together tightly, therefore the space between these
particles will be filled with water. As more sediments are deposited, the weight of
this new layer will press on the underlying sediment hence squeezing water out of
the layers and tightening the particles together. This process is called
compaction.
During compaction, minerals such as calcite and quartz may be left behind to
form a thin film around particles and combine them together. The process of this
sediment space filling is called cementation.
Both compaction and cementation are part of the process of hardening of
sedimentary rocks known as lithification.

Classification of sedimentary rocks: Sedimentary rocks

are classified into three groups. These groups are clastic, organic and chemical.

Clastic rocks are rocks formed when particles of country rocks and mineral
grains compact and cement together. Particles are important in determining the
type of clastic rocks, and these particles range from fine-grained sediments, such
as silt and clay, to coarse-grained such as boulders.

• Silt and clay are made of very small mineral particles and as they mix with
water and sand grains, they form mud. when this mud containing alot of
clay compacts, it hardens and form shale. Fossils can be found in shales
because they preserve well buried organisms.
• Sandstone texture varies from coarsely grained to finely grained. they are
composed mainly of quartz grains in addition to other types of minerals
such as feldspar and biotite.
 • Conglomerate rocks and breccia are composed of large rock fragments but
they are differentiated from each other by the shape of the fragments
where breccia (shown in picture) fragments are sharp and angular whereas
conglomerates are smooth and round.

Organic rocks are rocks that are formed from materials generated by living
organisms. Limestone and Coal are the most common organic rocks.

• Limestone is maily composed of calcium carbonate. Some oceanic

organisms, such as corals and mussels, extract calcium carbonate from the
water to form their hard shells and parts. When such organisms die, the
shells fall on the ocean floor to form layers and with time they compact
and cement to form limestones.( shown in picture)
• Chalk is a fine grained, whitish limestone that forms on the bottom of
ancient oceans. Chalk differs from limestone by being soft and rubs out
easily.
• Coal forms in swamps from the decayed material of land plants. As the
plants die, they gradually from thick layers that hardens into peat which
will be buried under clay and sand. Over a period of time, the change in
pressure changes peat into lignite and then into black coal.

Chemical rocks are rocks that form when minerals come out of the solution
and crystallizes. Most chemical rocks form by evaporation. those rocks formed by
water evaporation from oceans and lakes are called evaporites.

• Evaporites are held together by tightly interlocking crystals. Halite or

table salt is the most common known evaporite.( shown in picture)

Weathering All rocks disintegrate when exposed to chemical and

mecanical weathering.

• Chemical weathering is the breakdown of rock by chemical reaction.

In this process the minerals within the rock are changed into particles that
can be easily carried away. Air and water are both involved in many
complex chemical reactions.Rock particles in the form of clay, silt, sand,
and gravel are transported by the agents of erosion (usually water, and less
frequently, ice and wind) to new locations and redeposited in layers,
generally at a lower elevation. These deposited particles eventually become
compacted and cemented together, forming clastic sedimentary rocks.
• Mechanical weathering is the breakdown of rock into particles
without producing changes in the chemical composition of the minerals in
the rock. Ice is the most important agent of mechanical weathering.
Water enters into cracks within the rock, freezes, and expands. The force
exerted by the expansion is sufficient enough to widen the cracks and
break the rock into pieces.